India is the land that gave birth to thousands of great warriors that fought against the most powerful people of the world. But, even though we had the most vigilant and brave warriors of all time, we still suffered from an immense amount of harm that came from the people coming from one particular country. After the defeat of the King Jaipal (last king of The Hindu Shahi dynasty), by Mehmud Gazni, the people of our land were forced to be tortured and practically be the slaves of one or the other invaders from that particular country, for more than 800 years. Yes, you guessed it right, we are talking about the country that till now is the land of terror. The country that is said to have misfortune and betrayals embedded in its soil. Yes, we are talking about the country that even the USA could not heal despite of sending its military there for more than 20 years. Yes, we are talking about Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was a land that even Alexander suffered to step in. It is said that, whenever Alexander went to invade a country, he used to send a letter to his mother, and before the letter reached his mother, he would have won over the land. But when he came to Afghanistan, he failed to do so. And his mother inquired about the delay in acquiring it. In reply to her letter, he sent her some soil which belonged to the land and told her to spread it across the house. After doing so, many of their loyal soldiers or house guards refused their loyalty towards them. With this example, it is said that AFGHANISTAN is a land of cruelty and betrayal. Now, you may ask that how India and Pakistan managed to survive if they had such a big threat surrounding them. I know that most of you don’t know about the man who made India free from the Afghans and their influence. The man who is ranked first in the list of “TOP TEN WORLD CONQUERS” released by Billionaires Australia. The Sword of Khalsa : Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa. But don’t you worry it's not your fault. It’s the fault of our education system which was always busy in glorifying all of our colonizers.

I am here going to tell you some things that would make you understand the meaning of a true Sikh warrior, someone who can die to protect his nation. Rather than what some people want the public to believe, here comes the truth before you all.

HISTORY

Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, Originally named as Hari Singh, was born in the year 1791, to a family of warriors. His father, Sardar Gurdayal Singh used to be a soldier in the army of Sardar Maha singh( the father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh).

He was just 7 years old when his father died. After that he moved to his maternal grandparent’s house and learnt horse riding, the tricks of archery and fencing (known as talvaarbaazi) and many local and regional languages including Punjabi, Farsi, and Pashto.

A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO BECAME THE PERSONAL BODYGUARD OF THE GREATEST KING OF ALL TIME.

The Contemporary Maharaja of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh ji, was a man who believed that every person had a right to showcase his/ her talent to the world. Therefore, there used to be competition to showcase the battleground skills that included various forms of activities that a soldier requires in the field. And the winner used to get the title of “PUNJAB DA TARA” (the star of Punjab).

The event used to take place every year at the Baisakhi Fare.

When Hari Singh was Fifteen years old, he decided to participate in that competition too. That is when he first caught the eyes of the Maharaja. The Maharaja was so impressed by his performance that he even gave him a gold medal and made him join his personal protection force.

Maybe, that’s how a rare diamond catches the eyes of a true Goldsmith. One cannot imagine the magic and power two great personalities may hold if they work together. That’s exactly what was going to happen that changed the future of India as well as the now Pakistani Punjab.

BAGH-MAAR: THE STORY BEHIND THE TITLE “NALWA”.

One day, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, along with some of his soldiers(including Hari Singh) went on hunting. While they were in the forest looking for a prey, they encountered a hungry tiger. The Maharaja took out his sword in self-defense, but Hari Singh stopped him by saying that as your soldier, it is my responsibility to handle situations like these. So, he started fighting the tiger during which his sword got dropped. But, there was no time to pick it up .So, he continued to fight with his small kirpan (of size of a knife). He killed the tiger by ripping it apart from its jaws. That is something no human can ever imagine doing. It's worth noting that the pressure with which a tiger bite is as large as 1100 pounds per square inch. Now, this is something that was a hint of the strength the man had in his arms.

On witnessing this incident, The Maharaja was so intrigued that he compared him with the king Nal of the Mahabharata, who was known for his fight with a tiger. That is how Hari Singh became Hari Singh Nalwa.

THE STORY OF BIBI HARSHARAN KAUR

At the age of 15.6 years, Hari Singh Nalwa won his first battle in Jamrud (earlier possessed by the Afghans). After that there was no looking back. He became the commander in chief of the khalsa army and the Sikh raj was spread from Mysore to Jamrud and Peshawar covering many of the regions which were earlier under the rule of cruel leaders. Once, there was an assembly lead by Hari Singh ji in Mysore, where some pandits came requesting about the protection of their daughter which was kidnapped after her wedding by some Afghan men. Hari Singh asked them about the number of kidnappers and the number of people they themselves had with their troop. The father replied that there were five kidnappers and the troop (baarat) had 30 men. On this the commander replied, that it was extremely shameful that 30 of their people were not able to fight 5 men to protect the girl.

On their request, Hari Singh went and rescued the girl after which he told her family to learn to protect their girls on their own. But, to his surprise, the so called “respectable pandits” of that family became hesitant to accept their own daughter saying that she might be “impure” as she was with those men for one full day. Even after Hari Singh ji assured that he rescued her before anything bad could happen, they still had doubts.

The girl then told him that she did not want to go back to the family which could not protect her in the first place. The commander accepted her decision and kept him in the fort as his sister. Her name was changed from Bibi Sharni to Bibi Harsharan Kaur.

That’s just an example of how different of a thought process our commander-in-chief had in comparison to that of the contemporary “Respected people”.

BIBI BANNO: THE GIRL WHO WANTED TO MARRY THE BRAVEST SOLDIER OF ALL TIME.

By the age of 42, Hari Singh Nalwa had defeated the Afghans in more than 20 battles. His terror was so much than the Afghan army used to drop their weapons and run away, sometimes even dressed up as women to protect themselves. There was even a saying that the mothers in Afghanistan used to say in order to make their children sleep.”Chup Shah,Hari Singh Raghlay”. Which means “stay quiet, Hari Singh is coming.”

Once, Hari Singh and his soldiers were in a camp in Jamrud, which was adjacent to the one and only pathway that connected India, to Afghanistan. The Khyber pass(Khyber darra). The plan was to prevent any further invasion through the pass. On hearing about his arrival, the Pathans of Khyber were so afraid that they started running away from the place.

One of which was the fiancé of Bibi Banno. When he told her to come and run with him, she refused to do so. She wanted to see the person who made the great Pathans run for their lives.

She went to see Hari Singh ji while he was reciting the “Rehras sahib”. When he opened his eyes after the prayer, she asked him, who he was. He replied that he was the son of Guru Nanak. She was so impressed with his calmness and politeness even after being such a fearsome warrior, that she immediately wanted to marry him. She said that she wanted to give birth to a son like him to which he replied to pray for a son that has a good heart that respects people. But, she was consistent and told him that she wanted to marry him.

Hari Singh, who was married by then, being true to his wife, rejected the proposal of the beautiful Pathan girl. Bibi Banno was in tears and said that she had heard that no one goes empty-handed from the doors of Guru Nanak. To Which Hari Singh Ji replied,” You said that you wanted a son like me, but, I am married and am true to my wife as well as my Sikhism. But, it's true that no one goes empty-handed from the doors of Guru Nanak. Therefore, there is one way that your wish can come true. If you accept me as your son, then you will be the mother of Hari Singh Nalwa, the one these people are so afraid of.”

These words made Bibi Banno respect the Sikh men even more. She (19-20 years old) proudly accepted Hari Singh(42 years old), the greatest warrior of all time as his son.

This was and is still an excellent example of loyalty and self-control in men. He could easily take advantage of the young girl and betray his wife. No one would have ever dared to raise a finger towards him. But, he rather chose to respect his wife and women in general and did not leave his values. If that is not an example of a perfect husband, I don’t know what is.

THE SHAHEEDI OF SARDAR HARI SINGH NALWA: The man who was feared in life and death.

In the year 1837, the wedding ceremony of Maharaja Ranjit Singh ji’s Son, Sardar Naunihal Singh, was to take place in Lahore(the then capital of Punjab). In that ceremony, many political leaders including the people from East India Company and the then Pathan of Khyber were invited to Lahore. But, the Pathan came to distract the Sikh army. While the entire Sikh army except for 600 soldiers went to Lahore for the ceremony, the Pathan’s sons aligned along the Khyber pass with questionable intentions.

Khyber Pass, as stated earlier, was the only passage through which the looters could come to India, which was already being guarded by the Sikh army. Also, the intentions of the Pathan seemed to be suspicious to the commander from the very beginning. So, he decided to stay at Peshawar and not go to the wedding.

As expected, the five sons of the Pathan attacked the small sikh force that was present there at that time. Now, as the news went to Lahore and to Peshawar, the Maharaja told the commander to stay at Peshawar before the help came from Lahore. But, analyzing the situation, the commander chose to go and help the fighting soldiers, as he knew, without his presence, the Afghans will be fearless and would not stop. On hearing the news of Hari Singh’s arrival, the Afghan army became afraid and stepped back, and started firing from a distance. Hari Singh Ji was a great warrior, but he was a human at the end who had a last date. During that battle he became extremely injured but still knew that there were at least four days before help could arrive from Lahore. Before his death, he told his soldiers to not let the news of his demise leak.

As said, the soldiers did the same. Not knowing about the death of Hari Singh ji, the Afghans were still afraid and so were standing far away from the fort. The Sikh soldiers hung a kurta of Hari Singh ji at the top of the fort making it look like the commander himself was standing and observing everything from the top.

They managed to stop the enemy for four days and after the help arrived they won the battle and Maharaja Ranjit Singh ji managed to close the gates of Khyber for good. That’s how a true soldier’s uniform too fulfilled its duty towards the nation.

CONCLUSION

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji could never forget the sacrifice and bravery of Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa. He used to tell the tails of his bravery to people till the end of his own life. Neither could the Afghans, they kept fearing that the commander might still be alive and would come for their lives. The fear was embedded in their minds for decades. The mothers still used that saying even after 40-50 years of his death. No one was supposed to forget him. But you know who actually forgot him? We did. Yes, we, the people who still are alive and not enslaved by the Afghans. We, the people who have the right to religion and expression. We who could have been in the same conditions that the people in Afghanistan are today if it was not for him. Yes, we forgot him. Our education system made us forget him and many other true Heroes like him.

Look at us fighting each other on the basis of religion forgetting that we fought for everything we have today, Together. By believing in the propaganda that some people want us to believe in, we are here disrespecting that man. There was a time that the USA government wanted to establish a statue of “SARDAR HARI SINGH NALWA” outside the white house, but, our own government of that time refused to give permission for that. It is high time we accept that no government or political party will ever be happy in our unity. They would always find ways and trigger points to push in order to increase their vote bank. Just think about the divide-and-rule policy of the Britishers, that is what is still being implemented on and we don’t have a clue.

Let’s ignore all the negativity and start living with each other as our “Heroes” wanted us to. Let’s not depend on our textbooks to gain knowledge about the true warriors who fought for us to live this peaceful life. It is our duty to pass the knowledge of the people of historical importance, to our future generations. Let’s just all take an oath to fulfill our duty and spread the knowledge of the truth.

.    .    .